Leave A Comment, Pay 99¢

This story comes from the Sun Chronicle, a Massachusetts news source.

The opportunity to post comments on stories on Sun Chronicle websites will be restored this week, Publisher Oreste P. D'Arconte announced today, with posters required to use their real names.

To enforce this change, all posters will be required to register their name, address, phone number and a legitimate credit card number.

The credit card will be charged a one-time fee of 99 cents to activate the account.

The poster's name as it appears on the credit card will automatically be attached to the poster's comments, as will the name of the community in which they live.

Registrants will also be required to acknowledge they understand that under existing state and federal laws they are legally responsible for any comments they post. Registration under the new policy will begin at noon Wednesday.

So, there you go. If you want to drop some remarks on the Sun Chronicle website, deposit $0.99.

Frankly, I think this policy is backwards. They should pay the commenters for having the interest and taking the time to add content to the Sun Chronicle site. I'd suggest my comments are worth at least two cents.